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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Drinking window: Drink between 2010 and 2016 (based on 6 user opinions) |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 89.8 pts. and median of 89 pts. in 11 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Xfactor on 8/9/2013 & rated 89 points: Slightly green with significant alcohol at PnP. 2 hours was about right to round this one out. Blackberry and red oak nose. Macerated red plum, bacon fat, little cracked black peppercorn, chalky tannins. Finish was long, more blackberry with subtle black spices, slightly hot still, but not obtuse. Significant sediment in bottle, so pour carefully. 50/5/10/8/8/8 (1524 views) | | | Tasted by Lessthanzero on 1/5/2013 & rated 90 points: A bit flabby and jammy for some, but a syrah style I can like. Lots of dark fruit, which comes though almost more on the palate than the nose. Oak is prevalent, and the high alcohol percentage (14.8) noticeable. Worth the tax. (1655 views) | | | Tasted by Ecoenophile on 11/10/2012 & rated 88 points: First taste after P&P had a little funkiness... so decanted and that funkiness blew off. After that, powerful fruit-foward wine. A bit jammier than I prefer, but good balance. Full body and a strong finish. Wife who is not a realy syrah fan enjoyed that this one was not peppery. (1693 views) | | | Tasted by J2K on 1/5/2012: This was an interesting wine. A medium bodied syrah, some smoked meat and earthiness but with strawberry or raspberry flavors and cola similiar to a pinot noir. Some good acidity and tannins but I kept thinking of pinot. Overall, i still liked just thinking the price should be a little lower. (2264 views) | | | Tasted by CasaHernandez on 11/29/2011: This wine was amazing. Loved it. Juicy, great tannins, and smooth. This was a great wine and a great price. It actually had a bit or earthiness on the aroma and a hint of it on the taste. (2340 views) | | | Tasted by rjonwine@gmail.com on 8/23/2010 & rated 92 points: 2010 Family Winemakers Tasting San Francisco; 8/22/2010-8/23/2010 (Fort Mason Festival Pavillon, San Francisco, California): Nice black fruit, roasted black fruit nose; black fruit, roasted black fruit palate; medium-plus finish (4252 views) | | | Tasted by Philly-O on 10/21/2008 & rated 88 points: Full, wholesome, competent and bold in the classic form of the syrah varietal. Being fruit forward and more aggressive, one does not expect any subtleness that would classify it as elegant or complex. Can't lose points for something it is not expected to deliver. Nonetheless it had dimension and clarity of purpose commensurate of this winemaker. (1599 views) | | | Tasted by fairnymph on 6/11/2008 flawed bottle: NOTE: This wine was slightly cooked (it arrived at 90 degrees in my apt, and the 1/3 of the cork was stained, through to the very top), so this is probably a less than accurate review. I awarded points based on my guess of what it would be like had it not been heat damaged.
Sniffed from the cork and the mouth of the bottle, it smelled rich, smooth, and deeply fruity - like dark, ripe, almost dried cherries and plums. More like a Zin, actually, to my nose, or even maybe a Petite Sirah. I poured a bit in a glass, and sniffed again. Immediately, it seemed brighter, tarter, with a pronounced alcoholic tang, and a little oaky. The wine is a lovely deep plum colour, very rich and thick. As norvegicus noted (he called it 'legs', a term new to me), the wine clings in streams to the sides of the glass for minutes - quite amazing! Tasted, it has a heavily tannic and alcoholic bite to it immediately. It's less like overripe fruit, more like younger fruit, if that makes any sense. No longer black cherries and dried plums, but now it's like tart raspberries, with a distinct peppery finish, and still quite oaky. In my mouth, it didn't feel as thick as it looks, but certainly not thin either; I found it light to medium bodied. 1.5 hours later, I retested. It had aired fully the entire time, and been recooled a bit as necessary. In this time, it changed dramatically - wow. I am quite shocked in fact, as I don't think I've ever experienced a wine that morphs so much in such a short period of time. It still has quite a bite to it at first, a bit less tannic, a bit more acidic - I guess these features would soften with aging, and I will certainly age my purchased bottle. While it still has that raspberry note, it's even tarter, like berries that aren't quite ripe. It's also MUCH more herbal and even floral, notes which I couldn't pick up at all pre-airing. In fact, the herbal notes almost dominate to me after time - thyme and lavender type notes, I'd say, and then a semi-floral, semi-herbal note that reminds me of geranium.
In summary, my own tastes, which run to dark, smooth fruit as opposed to more astringent herbal notes, suggest to me three things:
1. I will most enjoy this drunk right away, without decanting (as it doesn't really lose any bite at all from decanting, that I can tell).
2. It will benefit from aging, becoming smoother (I hope/presume).
3. Were I to drink it slowly, or after decanting, I'd be able to better appreciate the herbal stage with the right meal; I can see this going well with braised/stewed rabbit or venison, or pasta with a spicy sausage and heavily herbed sauce. (1481 views) |
| Saxon-Brown Producer website
Founded in 1997 by winemaker Jeff Gaffner, the winery's cornerstone is its 100-year-old Casa Santinamaria Vineyard in Sonoma, a "field blend" vineyard that, at a half ton an acre, defines "low-yielding". Old vine Zinfandel (with its field-mates Petite Sirah, Carignane, Alicante Bouschet and Mataro) and Semillon come from this historic parcel. Pinot Noir and Syrah are sourced from small vineyards throughout Sonoma County. Total production is fewer than 2,000 cases, allowing Jeff to fulfill his mantra: "Winemaking must consume you, or your wines may not be worth consuming." Syrah Varietal article (Wikipedia) | (Wines Northwest)
Note that some producers in the Northern Rhone distinguish between simply Syrah and "Serine", the latter described as ‘an ancient clone of Syrah, the berries of which are more oval-shaped and less deeply pigmented than Syrah’ by producer Tardieu-Laurent. USAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Sonoma CountyMendocino CountyChalk HillAppellation: Appellation America | Chalk Hill website | from Russian River Travel |
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